


A Question of Faith

by ReneeMontoya



Category: DCU (Comics), Gotham Central, The Question (Comics)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-25 19:10:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2632970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeMontoya/pseuds/ReneeMontoya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renee Montoya's life as The Question is about to change forever when she rekindles her romance with Daria.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Beginning?

**Author's Note:**

> I am probably never going to finish this.

The sun had set over Gotham by the time Daria got home. She’d just finished a double shift at the restaurant and was looking forward to curling up in front of the TV with a pizza. She trudged up the stairs to her apartment, rain water dripping from her clothes, her arms weighed down with groceries and her keys in her mouth. The lights were out on her floor and broken glass crunched under her feet.

The hair on the back of neck was standing on end. She fumbled in her pocket for her pepper spray, relief washing over her as her fingers closed around the small canister. She dumped her bags outside her door and took her keys out of her mouth. Panic ripped through her as her fingers closed around the door knob and the door creaked open. The wood of the door was splintered, the lock was shattered, and as she took her hand away from the handle she saw her fingers were sticky with blood.

She stepped cautiously through the doorway into the darkness of her apartment. She winced as the floorboards creaked with every step.

“Is … is there anyone there? I have super powers!” she said to what she hoped was an empty apartment. “I’m the goddamn Batman!”

Silence. Then…

“Hey, Dee.”

Daria screamed. The lamp by the couch turned on bathing the room in a warm electric glow. Renee was hunched over on the couch, a cigarette in her hand and a half empty bottle next to her.

Daria leant against the wall breathing heavily. There was so much she wanted to say – so many thoughts and emotions running through her mind.

_What the hell is she doing in my apartment?_

_Is she okay?_

_God, I’ve missed you._

But in the end all she managed to say was “You’ve cut your hair.”

*

“I’m sorry for coming to you like this” Renee said as Daria stuffed her groceries away in the kitchen. “I … I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Daria didn’t say anything. She just stood in the kitchen digging her nails into the counter and looking at the bedraggled woman who was standing in her apartment and bleeding on her rug.

There were dark circles under Renee’s eyes. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. She had stripped down to her waist and her chest and torso were covered in blood-stained bandages. Her knuckles had been cut to shreds and her lip was cut and swollen.

Renee saw Daria looking at her and shuffled her feet uncomfortably. She took a long drag on her cigarette before snuffing it out in a glass on the coffee table.

Daria took a fistful of ice from the freezer, wrapped it in a cloth and handed it to Renee.

“For your lip” She said quietly.

Renee took the ice pack and smiled. She moved towards Daria but then thought better of it and sat back down on the couch, gingerly pressing the ice to her mouth.

It was silent for a while until Renee looked up at Daria and started to apologise.

“Daria, I’m sorry. I had nowhere else to go and …”

“You can’t just show up here after all these years, break down my door, bleed all over my couch, and … and drink all my cooking sherry?!”

“You were out of beer.”

Daria laughed half-heartedly and sat down next to Renee on the couch.

“Give me that.” She said, taking the ice pack from Renee.

She moved Renee’s head round with a hand on her cheek and dabbed at her bloody lip gently. Renee held Daria’s hand against her cheek and closed her eyes.

“Don’t get too comfortable.” Daria said.

Renee didn’t say anything. She brushed the ice pack away and ran her hand through Daria’s hair, pulling her closer until their lips brushed. Renee’s lips felt rough and chapped but pleasantly familiar. Daria pushed her away.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have come here like this,” Renee whispered. “I’ll go.”

Daria looked into Renee’s face. She looked so sad. So alone.

“You can stay,” Daria said. “You need a shower anyway! Have you been wading through sewers or something?”

Renee laughed. “You’d be surprised, Dee.”

“Okay, well, you know where the shower is. Clean towels are in the closet on the right.” Daria got up and started picking up the bandages and cigarette butts Renee had left scattered over the couch and the coffee table. “You can have the couch tonight.”

“Thanks.”

*

Renee stepped out of the shower, towelled herself off and slipped into the clothes Daria had left outside the door for her. She winced and clutched her chest as she got dressed. She was sure she had a broken rib. Drying her hair as she went, she walked bare foot to the window. She watched the rain falling in the street for a while. A car pulled up across the street and Renee ducked out of sight. The driver jumped out and ran through the rain and into one of the apartments opposite. Renee breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been followed. She’d stashed her mask and Binary Gas canisters in a trash can outside and Daria had wedged a chair up against the broken door. They should be safe tonight.

She took one last look at the street and turned away from the window. Daria was standing right behind her and Renee nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Oh my god! You scared the cr…” The lights weren’t on but even in the gloom Renee could see that she wasn’t wearing anything. Renee opened her mouth to say something but Daria had already pressed her up against the wall and was kissing her neck.

Renee ran her hands down Daria’s back. Her skin felt soft and smooth under her bandaged fingers.

Daria unbuttoned Renee’s jeans and slipped her hand down into her underwear. Renee’s back arched and she pulled Daria closer. Renee’s moans were muffled by Daria’s mouth.

When Daria broke away Renee leant forward craving more. Daria pushed her back up against the wall and knelt down in front of her. She pulled down her jeans and her damp underwear. She kissed Renee’s stomach tenderly, running her fingers up her thighs and clasping her ass. Renee buried her fingers in Daria’s hair and pushed her head down between her legs.

Daria’s tongue teased Renee, exploring her folds till she was gasping and whining for more. Daria always did know how to turn Renee ‘hard-as-nails’ Montoya into a quivering mess. Renee pulled Daria’s head in closer, pressing her hips against her mouth. Daria took pity on her and, finally, circled Renee’s clit with her tongue. Renee’s gasps of pleasure told her she hadn’t lost her touch.

“Oh, Daria!” Renee chanted over and over. She grabbed the curtains with one hand and groped for a handhold on the bookcase with the other. Something fell to the floor and shattered. “Oh shit … Dee … I think I … I knocked over your … plant!” she panted.

Dee mumbled something inaudibly and sent another wave of excruciating pleasure through Renee’s bruised and battered body. Her toes curled into the carpet and she bit her swollen lip.

Renee was on the verge of climax when Daria stood up and walked away.

“Dee?”

“Bedroom. You coming?”

“Nearly,” Renee chuckled.

*

Renee and Daria lay in the bed under sweat drenched sheets listening to the rain pounding like a steel drum on the fire escape. Renee lay sprawled on the bed, exhausted, while Daria ran her fingers over Renee’s body. She was tracing all her scars and bruises, some she remembered like that knot of scar tissue on her right cheek, faint and faded now. Some of her scars were as familiar beneath her fingers as the feel of a favourite book. Most of them were new.

“I should break into your apartment more often,” Renee laughed. “I don’t think I can even move after that.”

Daria didn’t say anything.

“Dee? You asleep?”

Daria propped herself up on her elbow.

“What have you been doing to yourself, Renee? I don’t hear from you for years and then you just show up here looking and smelling like you’ve been fighting alligators.” Renee could hear the concern in her voice. Anger as well. 

“I can’t tell you. You have to have faith in me, Dee.” Daria didn’t say anything. “Would you rather I lied to you?”

“Oh, cut the crap, Montoya! The only thing I have faith in you to do is get the shit kicked out of yourself. If you want this to be anything more than a one night stand then you’ll tell me what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

Renee wanted to tell her but instead she said: “I’m doing undercover work for Gordon. Deep cover stuff.”

“You’re back on the force?”

“Not … not officially. Like I said: it’s some pretty deep cover stuff.”

Renee held her breath. Daria seemed to believe her though and she rested her head on Renee’s chest and linked her fingers with hers. She smelt like cinnamon and flour.

“Dee … you’re … crushing … me!” Renee gasped.

“Oh, sorry.” Dee shifted her body into the crook of Renee’s arm. “You should really get that checked out. You’ve probably got a broken rib.”

The rain continued to pour as they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.

“I missed you, Dee.” Renee whispered, her voice breaking slightly and her eyes welling up. “I missed you a lot.”


	2. A Moment of Clarity?

Every part of Gotham has its own distinctive sounds and smells whether it’s the tree blossoms and birds singing from the park or the laughing and bustling theatregoers in The Upper West Side or the smells of exhaust fumes and the din of blaring taxi horns in the centre of the city or the smell of fish and shouts of dockyard workers in Tricorner.

Luckily for Renee, there was one sound and one smell common throughout Gotham: Screams of pain and the smell of urine. No one gave a second thought to the shouts from the alley or even bothered looking out of their windows.

Renee had all the privacy she needed.

Falcone’s errand boy was lying on a pile of garbage bags, his piss stained Armani suit was covered in the blood from his broken nose and his shouts of pain were giving Renee a headache.

“What’s your boss doing in the Tricorner Yards, pendejo? That’s not his turf.”

Between sobs of pain he spat a glob of bloody phlegm at her face. Renee wiped it off her mask with the back of her glove and sighed.

“You’re not making this easy for me. Y’see, usually I’d just keep punching you in your ugly face till you told me what I needed to know. But I just got back together with my ex. She’s great by the way. She does a frittata like nobody’s business, and there’s this thing she does with her tongue that… anyway, she doesn’t like me getting into fights. So I can’t come home with busted up knuckles now, can I? So instead I figured I’d just use this,” Renee hefted the rusty crowbar from the trash can it was wedged in and tested its weight in her hand. “But I can only really see myself getting in one, maybe two, hits before you’re a brain-dead piece of shit in the emergency room.”

He tried scrambling away across the mound of rubbish but Renee pinned him down with a foot in the small of his back.

“So, one last chance before I cover your cheap suit in brains!”

“It’s Armani!” He spluttered defiantly.

“Wrong answer,” Renee growled, raising the crowbar over her head.

“PYG!” he cried, snot running down his face. “Professor Pyg! He’s doing a deal with Pyg! That’s all I know! I swear! Please don’t hurt me! I have kids and a sick grandma and … and … and a hamster!”

Renee left him sobbing and begging for his life in the alley. She picked her hat up from where she left it on a dumpster and ducked out of sight into the maze of back alleys toward the docks, twirling her crowbar like a cane.

This wasn’t good. Pyg was a degenerate psycho who specialised in torturing and disfiguring children. And if the idiot wetting himself in that alley was telling the truth and he was working with Falcone then that meant trouble. Renee wracked her brains trying to think what Falcone could possibly get out of a deal with Pyg. And what did Pyg need from him?

“Hey, Blondie.” Renee sighed and turned around to face Huntress perched on a fire escape. “You’re hot when you get all murderous.”

“I was just gonna break his legs.” Huntress raised an eyebrow. Renee shrugged, hiding the crowbar behind her back. “Maybe a couple of ribs too.”

In one fluid motion like a cat, Huntress leapt from the fire escape and bundled Renee up in her arms squeezing her hard and lifting her off her feet. She gave her a big sloppy kiss on her Psuedoderm cheek and laughed.

“I’ve missed you, shorty!”

Renee gasped for air and managed to extricate herself from Huntress’ vicelike embrace. She rubbed her tender ribs and tried to catch her breath.

Huntress straightened Renee’s tie, her fingers lingering. “You don’t reek of cigarette smoke and cheap booze like you usually do. You on a diet?”

“Yeah, my skin is practically glowing!” Renee said sarcastically.

Huntress was standing so close that Renee could smell her even with her mask on. Just a hint of expensive perfume still clung to her. Renee looked down and wiped her sweaty palms on her trousers but forgot she was wearing gloves. Huntress lifted up Renee’s chin with her forefinger and pulled her closer by her tie. She leant in slowly, closing her eyes.

Renee’s heart almost stopped beating.

God, she wanted to kiss her. But she didn’t. She pushed Huntress away and, turning up her coat collar, walked down the alley leaping the chain-link fence at the end of it.

“You coming?” she said from the other side of the fence.

Huntress smiled her devilish smile and followed her.

*

It had been raining for at least an hour now and the sky was getting darker and darker. Renee was soaked to the skin and the rain was running down the back of her neck. She was squatting in front of the door to what Huntress’ contact had said was Pyg’s last hideout, her lock picks in hand, trying to open the rusty lock.

Huntress was leaning against the door pouting. She pushed a handful of her drenched black hair out of her face. Renee tried to concentrate on the lock.

“Why’s it taking so long? You have a crowbar!”

“Bite me.”

“It’d be a pleasure.”

Renee ignored her and the flutter in her stomach.

Huntress came and squatted next to Renee, watching her intently.

“You wanna get a drink or something after this?”

Renee sighed in exasperation, put down her lock picks and turned to Huntress.

Huntress straightened up and raised her hands.

“Okay, fine! Do your thing! No more distractions.”

“Thank you.” Renee turned back to the stubborn lock.

“But that’s a yes to that drink though, right?”

Renee was just about to give Huntress the finger when without warning she kicked the door open in an explosion of splinters and shards of metal sending Renee sprawling on the wet concrete.

“Subtle, Huntress! We were being subtle!”

Huntress put a finger to her lips and vanished into the gloomy warehouse with a mischievous grin on her face.

Renee followed her into the gloom, readjusting her hat and grumbling. Her flashlight flickered on and cut a beam of light through the dark and illuminated Huntress’ bare midriff. Renee panicked and swung the torch light up into the rafters hoping she wouldn’t notice.

“Were you checking me out?”

“What? No!” Renee shielded her eyes from the glare of Huntress’ torch.

“You were checking me out!”

The warehouse was dark, damp, and almost completely empty. The only things there were two shipping containers. They were rusty and the paint peeled off in huge flakes when Renee examined the lock.

Huntress was on edge, her finger on the trigger of her crossbow.

Renee jammed her crowbar into the door of the nearest container and heaved. The screech of bending metal and breaking locks drowned out the echoes of the rain on the building’s corrugated iron roof.

With a final grunt Renee managed to force the container open, the door shrieking on its hinges. She stepped back and wiped a sweaty lock of hair out of her face.

Huntress stepped into the gaping maw of the container and shone her torch inside.

Renee followed her.

“Anything?”

Huntress turned round, the colour draining from her face, as a beeping from inside the container got louder and louder.

Time seemed to slow as adrenaline flooded Renee’s body. Huntress dropped her torch, the glass shattering and spreading across the concrete floor like a snowflake. Huntress leapt at Renee, grabbing her by the shoulders so as to shield her from the blast that erupted from the container.

The force of the explosion threw them both outside through what remained of the warehouse door.

Renee slammed her head on the tarmac and everything went black.

She came too with a ringing in her ears, shards of glass digging into her back, and something pressing on her chest. Her vision slowly began to clear and her head stopped spinning. Huntress was sprawled on top of her. Her hair and cloak were singed and blood was trickling from her nose but she was grinning all the same.

Huntress was saying something but Renee could barely make out what it was over the ringing in her ears.

“Huh?”

“I said: ‘I thought it would take at least three beers to get into this position with you!’”

They held what would have been eye contact for what felt to Renee like a lifetime. And then slowly, ever so slowly, Huntress put a hand to Renee’s cheek and leant in, her heavy lashes closing and her lips opening.

Renee could feel herself blushing and butterflies in her stomach as Huntress kissed her. For a split second she closed her eyes and kissed back, but a moment later Renee shoved her off unceremoniously and staggered to her feet.

She helped Huntress to her feet and checked to see if she was hurt. Her costume had saved her from the worst of the explosion and Renee wiped away the blood that was running down her face.

The warehouse was on fire. Smoke was spewing from the windows and Renee could hear sirens in the distance.

“Thanks for the save. You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. Pyg must have moved his base.” And with that they’d made an unspoken vow to forget about the kiss. The sirens were getting louder and the heat from the blaze was getting unbearable. The two of them limped to cover, Huntress clinging to Renee for support. “We’d better get out of here. What do you say I go break some legs and you do the boring detective stuff?”

“I think we both need some rest.”

Huntress gave her reluctant agreement but Renee knew that she’d most likely spend the night running across rooftops and fighting half of Gotham’s criminal population looking for answers.

Huntress was headstrong and eager.

Renee was tired.

*

When Renee arrived back at her motel she collapsed in a heap on the lumpy mattress. She smelt of smoke and her head was aching. She needed a shower but instead she sat at the table in the kitchenette where she’d spread out every case file she could get her hands on about Pyg and his dealings with Falcone. It had cost her nearly $200 dollars in bribes to get her hands on these. She wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with the GCPD.

After hours of rifling through papers and getting nowhere she leant back in her chair and tried to rub the headache out of her temples. She reached into her jacket and took out a cigarette, lit it, and paced up and down the room.

She couldn’t focus and she had no idea why.

Was it Huntress and her incorrigible flirting? Was it the kiss? Was it the fact that Renee liked it? Was she worried about Daria?

Renee went back into the kitchen and realised that it had gotten too dark to read. She turned on the light, its incessant flickering and buzzing driving knives through her skull.

She searched through the cupboards till she found the one with the glasses. Like everything in this crappy motel the glasses were stained and grimy but she poured herself a big glass of cheap scotch anyway.

That’s when it hit her.

_I almost died today._

She thought that when she’d taken over the mantle as The Question that that had put a stop to her self-destructive tendencies.

But that wasn’t true, was it? She’d started drinking and smoking again, almost as much as after she left the GCPD. Before she’d gotten back together with Daria her hands had been a mess of scabs and she’d broken more bones in the last month than most people break in a lifetime. And now today, if it hadn’t been for Huntress, she’d be in a million scorched pieces all over the Tricorner Yards.

She was worse now than she’d been after Daria left her. A lump rose in her throat and she started to cry, her body shaking with huge sobs, her tears mixing with the mildew in her glass.

She’d been doing this kind of thing, putting on that mask and risking her life, for so long now. Why was she only now realising this?

That’s when, almost without thinking, she picked up the phone.

Wiping her eyes as it rang, she emptied her glass in the sink and snuffed out her cigarette, throwing the rest of the pack across the kitchenette into the bin.

“Hey, Dee … No, no, I’m fine. I was just wondering if I could come over? … Maybe rent a movie or something? … Sure … Salty, right? … Vanilla pods? … Organic. Yeah, I’m sure I’ll find some … Okay … Bye.”

*

Renee took the stairs to Daria’s apartment two at a time chewing furiously on a huge wad of gum. She paused when she got to Daria’s landing and spat the gum out over the bannister, down into the lobby.

She knocked on the newly repaired door and waited anxiously. She put her shopping bags down and wiped her sweaty palms on her sweater and prayed that two whole packets of gum would be enough to cover the smell of cigarettes on her breath. Daria hated cigarettes. She’d complained for days after Renee broke in that she could taste smoke on her.

Renee’s face lit up like a child’s on Christmas when Daria opened the door. She threw her arms around her, almost knocking Daria off her feet.

“Hey, mi corazon,” Daria laughed, hugging her back.

Renee held her for a while longer then kissed her cheek.

“Hey, baby.”

Daria held Renee’s hands, stroking her knuckles with her thumbs. Renee had been careful to make sure she hadn’t used her fists on her more recent escapades. When Daria couldn’t feel any new cuts on her hands she smiled up at Renee and gave her a tender kiss on her lips. Renee’s mouth opened, wanting more but Daria had other priorities.

“What movie did you get?” she asked eagerly.

Renee ferreted through the bags and pulled out a battered DVD.

“ _Top Gun_. Cris used to love this movie. He’d spend hours on stakeouts humming _Danger Zone_. Used to drive me crazy.” Daria led her into the apartment by the hand. “Oh and I hope you realise how hard it is to get organic vanilla pods at 10pm in this part of Gotham!”

“Oh, you got them?”

“Yup. Am I the best girlfriend ever or am I the best girlfriend ever?”

“Best girlfriend ever,” Daria laughed, kissing Renee and taking the vanilla into the kitchen. “Is _Top Gun_ any good? I’ve never seen it before.”

“No idea. Cris made me watch it one time but I fell asleep.” Renee put the DVD in and sat down on the couch. She took out the salty popcorn Daria liked and stretched her legs out on the coffee table.

Daria handed Renee a soda and curled up next to her.

Two minutes later and Daria’s hand was up Renee’s sweater and she was kissing her neck tenderly.

“Aren’t you gonna watch the movie?”

“I’m bored already!” Daria complained, nibbling her ear. “I’m pretty sure you got the most boring movie you could find so we could make out. That was your plan all along wasn’t it?”

Renee laughed and flicked a handful of popcorn at Daria.

Daria threw back even more and lay back on the couch, resting her feet in Renee’s lap and turning her attention back to the movie.

“Why are they all so sweaty?” Daria asked “OH! He said the thing! He said ‘Top Gun’!” She said excitedly, poking Renee’s face with a toe. “Tom Cruise is so short! He’s like you but less grumpy.”

“I am not short!”

“Mm, you kinda are.”

“There’s like an inch difference between us and only when you wear heels.”

“Damn, Charlie’s hot!”

Renee threw a cushion at Daria.

Daria jabbed her playfully in the ribs with her foot.

“Oh now you’re asking for it!” Renee said, pouncing on her and tickling her ruthlessly.

Daria’s laughing was so loud that the upstairs neighbours started banging through the ceiling. Renee stopped Daria’s giggling with a kiss. She held Daria’s face in her hands, stroking her cheeks with her thumbs and kissed her on the nose.

Daria put her hand at the back of Renee’s neck, entwining her fingers in her dark close-cropped curls and pulled her head back down to her lips. She kissed her fiercely, her tongue slipping into Renee’s mouth as Daria pulled her closer.

Daria’s other hand glided along Renee’s back and down her trousers. Daria’s cold hand in her underwear made her shudder.

They only stopped kissing for fleeting moments to take quick gasps of air and to sing along to _Take My Breath Away_ together, barely breaking the kiss between verses.

Soon, Daria pushed Renee off her and threw her arms around her, straddling her, kissing her neck and working her way down to her collarbone. She pulled Renee’s sweater off over her head and ran her hands up her shirt.

At some point Renee had moved her leg and accidentally kicked the coffee table, spilling soda everywhere. A large sticky puddle was spreading over the table and the floor but neither of them had noticed.

Daria had almost gotten Renee’s shirt off when she happened to glance at the screen.

“Wait, Goose died? What? When did that happen?”

Daria slid off her and sat on the edge of the couch, watching the screen intently now, a look of mixed horror and confusion on her face.

Renee laughed and rested her head on Daria’s shoulder.

*

By the time the credits started rolling, Daria was stretched out on the couch snoring like a freight train. Her head was in Renee’s lap and she was stroking her hair. Her leg had gone to sleep underneath Daria but she didn’t want to wake her.

She tried to reach for the remote without disturbing Daria but ended up putting her hand in the sticky mess the soda had left. She recoiled her hand in disgust and wiped it on Daria’s sleeve.

Renee lifted Daria’s head gently and wormed her way off the couch, wincing as she put weight on her foot. She hobbled over to the TV and switched it off. She rubbed some feeling back into her leg and stood watching Daria drooling on the couch cushions.

She was so beautiful.

Renee scooped her up in her arms like a bride and carried her into the bedroom. Daria snuggled her face into Renee’s shoulder.

“Mmm, Xena … you’re so strong….” Daria mumbled in her sleep as Renee put her down gently on the bed.

Renee kissed her forehead and tucked her in.

She’d brushed her teeth and just wriggling out of her jeans when Daria sat up in bed rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Renee …” she said, trying to supress a yawn.

“Yeah, baby?” Renee whispered, crawling over the covers and lying down next to her.

Daria looked like she was about to say something but changed her mind. Renee propped herself up on an elbow and gazed up into Daria’s face. She was avoiding Renee’s eye contact, staring at the opposite wall and in the streetlights’ artificial twilight Renee could see that she was close to tears.

“Come on, talk to me, Goose.” Renee said, trying to make her laugh.

“I … I shouldn’t have left. After Cris died, I shouldn’t have left you.” Daria had done her best to keep the tears at bay but now they were streaming down her cheeks and her voice was breaking. “You needed me … and I wasn’t there for you … but I’m never …”

She stopped when Renee kissed her. As their lips parted Renee clasped Daria’s face in her hands and looked her in the eyes. Those deep, dark, glistening pools of night that held Renee captivated.

“I pushed you away, mi corazon. You leaving should have been my wakeup call.” Renee said, as Daria held her close, silent tears running down her face. “But I was too stupid, too busy wallowing in self-pity to realise. I am _never_ going to push you away again! I promise. You’re my anchor and I was an idiot not to have realised it earlier.”

She kissed the teardrops from her eyelids and whispered sweet, soothing nothings to her until the tears had dried up.

“Can I be the little spoon tonight?” Daria sniffed.

“What do you mean ‘tonight’?” Renee asked, feigning outrage.

“You’re always the little spoon!” Daria laughed.

“Fine,” Renee smiled, “but that information doesn’t leave this room!” She wrapped her arms around Daria, pulling her body close against hers. “I have a reputation to maintain.” she murmured sleepily, nuzzling up against Daria.


End file.
